A Quiet Place to Sit

by Gregory Pleshaw

A quiet place to sit. That's what New York City seems to lack in abundance. Even L.A. and S.F. have quiet cafes and quiet laid-back bars where you can sit with an open notebook and feel alone. Anonymity is NYC's stock-in-trade, but aloneness is hard to find. Everything here is a frenzy, a crush of humanity and noise, a place where everything, including an introduction, is a kind of sale. There are so many places to feel lost here, but almost nowhere to be by yourself.